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Oliver Kazunga Weekly Profile
THE appetite for doing shopping abroad is great among Zimbabweans. Each day dozens of buses and small vehicles pass through the borders, mainly Beitbridge and Plumtree with scores of travellers with big loads of clothing, food and property imports.

The situation is bound to worsen with the coming festive season, which is associated with intense congestion and increased influx of foreign goods.

Maideyi Makope, 46, says she spotted the opportunity from this appetite for shopping and established her proud line of businesses, Mzansi 4Sure.

Mzansi or Jozi is often used to refer to South Africa and the name Mzansi 4Sure is popular with many, drawn from SABC Channel One’s motto “Mzansi for sure”.

Makope’s Mzansi 4Sure runs clothing, furniture and retail outlets in Bulawayo central business districts and Bradfield shopping mall.

The award winning entrepreneur came tops in this year’s Megafest Businesswoman of the Year contest after landing the second runner-up and first runner-up title for the award in 2011 and 2012.

“I’m just a lady who started this business out of inspiration by fashion and the love of it. When I was aged 17, I made a dress and this later inspired my uncle in Harare to send me for a course in dressmaking,” said Makope.

With a background in bookkeeping and secretarial studies, she said her dream to run a clothing business grew when she started travelling to countries such as Botswana in the 1990s to buy clothes for resale.

“I used to work at my uncle’s Makope and Associates company as a bookkeeper-secretary. I used to move from office to office selling clothes that I bought from outside the country.

“It’s that business that has grown to where I am right now, starting from a bag,” she recalled.

Makope said after quitting her job one of her friends persuaded her to rent a stall at one of the flea markets in the city.

She said she got the stand at Unity Village in 1995.

“Through God’s grace, I got my own stall and it was one of the best. It was during that time that the government launched the urban clean-up campaign (Murambatsvina) that I started expanding my business,” she said.

“In 2007, I open my first clothing outlet here (between 8th and 9th Avenues along Fife Street). Mzansi 4Sure was born here.”

Makope said the name Mzansi 4Sure was suggested by her daughter, Lisa, who observed Zimbabweans’ love for going for shopping in South Africa.

She said since then her business has grown from strength to strength despite the challenging economic environment.

“For me to be standing where I’m today it’s all because of discipline in business affairs and sound financial management. I’m not driving a Range Rover, I drive a Mazda MPV and Hyundai Santa Fe,” she added.

“Those who want to come up in business, stick to what you have. Discipline with cash and in business affairs will have your enterprise prosper and help you to get through all the challenges.” Mzansi is known for selling trendy products and believes in quality and exclusive fashion, the bulk of which is bought from South Africa, China and Hong Kong.

Makope plans to import more from Thailand and Turkey and design her own labels as a way of expanding the business empire — tapping the market in South Africa and Mozambique.

She, however, complained over high import duty levied at the border.

Due to the economic challenges, Mzansi has streamlined its workforce by 50 percent to eight.

Makope did her O-Level at Queen Elizabeth Girls High School in Harare in 1985 before going for A-Level in 1988. “I’m studying towards attaining a degree. I’m also doing marketing because when you’re in business, you need to do business studies,” she said, adding that gaining knowledge was golden.